Sorry I haven't been posting much here lately, but I ran into a couple CT members (Kanga, 900Fine) so I thought I'd better stop backsliding and get back to seeing what's going on here and contributing to this wonderful forum. I'll start by posting my CoinFest and Baltimore coin show reports. I set up at CoinFest with Rick Snow which was the first time we did that, and it worked out nicely. Even though we have similar material, his is more higher end and even though I have some high end Indian cents, I mostly have mid-range uncirculated and circulated copper, so it was kind of like a nice inventory marriage! CoinFest Unfortunately, the show didn't go that well for most dealers, including me and Rick - I had only a few small sales and one big sale but that was about it. The poor sales were due to many factors, but partially because this show was right behind the Baltimore show and also it had just changed locations. It was in a beautiful room at the Marriott in Stamford, CT, but whenever a coin show moves to a new facility, you always seem to lose a little percentage of the attendance. The show promoters really did a fantastic job promoting the show, but sometimes other factors that are out of their hands affect the success of a show. Sadly, I understand that they will discontinue putting this show on. Baltimore Below are a few photos I took during the drive from CoinFest to the Newark airport last weekend (sorry they are not very good but they were taken through the windshield as we were driving). Rick was kind enough drive me to the airport and we took a little side tour through New York since I hadn't been to New York in over 25 years. We went past Ground Zero, the Manhattan Bridge, and through the Holland tunnel past the Statue of Liberty. It was a wonderful little jaunt and I took a few photos from the car as we drove past a few memorable sites. I set up at this show with Todd (bluccphotos.com), and we have a good time bantering and helping each other out. On the first day of the Baltimore show during dealer set up, I bought several BEAUTIFUL scarce/rare Conder tokens at this show, thanks to Ron Sirna and Gary Groll - who do a very good job taking care of my Conder habit! They steer me towards the best/prettiest tokens and I always get a great education just listening to them talk about each one. Ron is an especially wonderful friend and I always enjoy his company - he loves good wine and beautiful Conder tokens - what more could a girl want! I gave the Conders to Todd to photograph and will post them when Todd gets unburied enough to finalize them for me! I also bought a great partial roll of original (uncleaned) unc (red/red brown) later date Indian cents! I can't wait to sift through them and see what little gems are in this roll! Here's a quick photo of these little beauties. Any way, as far as the show went, it was very good, though Saturday was slower than the other days and most dealers reported slow sales. They said the majority of their sales were lower priced items, but there were a lot of people who just wanted to "look" and weren't interested in actually purchasing coins which I experienced as well. But I did a lot of buying at this show, which is usual for me at these larger shows. I bought a lot of better date collector grade coins (XF/AU) and especially some nice Early American Copper since that is what seems to be pretty popular. I also picked up some nice MS certified better date Lincolns as well, including a nice uncirculated 1914-D and one in AU58, and even a few beautiful gem PCGS MS65 Red Indian cents, which is unusual for me since I prefer RB but these were pristine and priced right. Todd was busy for most of the show. We saw and chatted with several CT and CU forum members: Goldbully (we get a kick out of him that's for sure!), Breakdown (always a huge pleasure visiting with my fellow Tom Petty buddy), and many others I can't think of right now. Here are a few photos I took..... Goldbully: Todd standing around doing nothing (not really, but I don't want him to get a big head)! By the way, we had the BEST bourse neighbors I've ever had! They were a couple of local dealers who were extremely friendly and fun, and especially loved my music!! Other than Todd (who doesn't really count any way ) everyone was happy with the music I was playing on my iPod docking station. I was also very appreciative of our friendly neighbors since brought me some real wine glasses so I didn't have to use the plastic cups I brought, and they even recommended a wonderful restaurant that we went to on Saturday night (where we also listened to Rick Snow sing karaoake but he wouldn't let me publish the photos I too!). :1Applause; Our wonderful local Baltimore bourse neighbors: Saturday I got to the airport a little early so I enjoyed my usual pre-flight cocktail and some wonderful boneless wings. I then boarded the plane with at least half a dozen other dealers who were headed back to LA on the same flight. I had another local show today so I had to leave the Baltimore show a little early. Here are a few more photos I took on Saturday - enjoy! That's the PCGS table in the back of the room right behind us.... Then when I got home last night, I went straight to bed since traveling for 11 days was exhausting! This morning when I got up, it sure was dark outside, but I knew my hubby had reset the clock last night; however, after getting all ready for my local show, packing the car, I soon discovered that my not-so-dear hubby had set the clock AHEAD an hour, so I had gotten up at 4am instead of 6am!!! ARGGGGGG! I had just lost TWO precious hours of much needed sleep....... So I made him take me to Dennys for breakfast where I promptly had 2 cups of coffee, then I had 3 more cups at the show today!
Nice report as usual, it seems to me from the photos that crowds pressing at your table was not a problem, hopefully this economy is not something that the big kahunas at the fed think we will get used to.
I realize the photos make it look like the show was not that busy but the pictures were taken on Saturday which was the least busy day and when there was a lull in our area - I can tell you the show was very packed on Thursday afternoon and Friday.
I had planned to only attend Thurs afternoon but managed to get there around noon on Sat. Sold a lot of generic Morgans and some $20.00balboas. Buy range on the Morgans - $17.00 - $19.00 and $20.00 Balboas for ten coins $800.00 - $900.00. Spent a good bit of time talking with dealers (one man shops) I see there every year. it appears these guys aren't doing real good this year. One problem is with the high cost of PM they had to shave their profit margins some. However a lot of the gold only dealers appeared to be doing well bought three coins with masted ships on them but they are all in plastic so they don't scan well or photograph well. (really need to take time to set up my camera again) Show was not what I would call crowded. Three foreign currency dealers that have always had to best prices and they are located in the same area of the show and refer customers to each other. For example, I was looking for the Mexican revolution anniversary 100 peso & 200 peso notes with matching serial numbers. Checked with several dealers they wanted $60.00 for the two notes. One dealer said he didn't have it at the show but would mail it to me. Bought them for $45.00, including Mexican bank Note holding folder from Mark Wm Clark, San Francisco, mwclark12@yahoo.com the other dealers - David F. Cienewicz, Huntsville, AL, 256-852-7015 and Len Harsel, Springfield, VA, lenharsel@AOL.com
Yes and the 4th photo too - they were taken with my cell phone from the car as we drove by, that's why they aren't very good.
Wow! I hope to go to NYC when the WTC complex is completed (or next September when the memorial opens).
Nice report! I walked by your booth on Saturday, but you were busy so I didn't get a chance to say hi or anything. Maybe next year. This was my first time at the Baltimore show, I had a good time. Definitely will be back next time.
For what this information is worth (my opinions are free! )plus, I may be borrowing your watch and telling you what time it is.... sorry! I am a new collector, sort of.. I just started my first registry set. Over the summer, I told myself that I would go to this show, it would have been my first big show. I had been to one other small local show and ended up with buyers remorse. I pre-registered for the Baltimore show and while I knew it was upcoming... I ended up deciding that it wasn't worth the time/money or effort to go and browse or haggle over specifics "wants" - when it is so much easier to search the internet and continue to drop winning low ball bids for my wants.
In my experience nothing replaces a large show where you can compare prices, see/hold multiples of the same items, and discover coins/currency you didn't know existed. I've established relationships with several dealers that sell there. three of these dealers have consistently given me the best quality and prices at the show. Also, at this show I bought three different coins that have sailing ships on them. Prior to seeing the coins I had no interest in coins with sailing ships on them. for me, browsing eBay or other sites doesn't compare to browsing at a large show. Baltimore has a lot of very good seafood restaurants which is another reason to attend the show there. IMO. some of them have some of the best crab cakes on the planet.
Once again Charmy's descriptive way with words gives you the feeling of almost being there.... Great write-up and pictures, Charmy... I'm certainly looking forward to the next one.
I am scratching my head.. really? try using the search bar ? 4,552 results found for ship under coins & currency You just missed bidding on this one for $5 delivered to your doorstep on a monday!
Lucky guy, getting to take you to Denny's. Welcome back. Thanks for the detailed show reports and the accompanying snapshots. Nice work.
